The chief communications officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Kate James, is joining education and publishing company Pearson in January.
James will take the role of chief corporate affairs officer, succeeding Pearson's director of communications Luke Swanson.
Swanson is currently leading Pearson's reorganisation of its business around its global education strategy.
In July the company span off book publisher Penguin into a joint venture with Bertelsmann, the owner of rival publisher Random House.
James will divide her time at Pearson between New York and London. She has previously worked on both sides of the Atlantic in senior leadership roles in the areas of communications, international government relations, strategy and sustainability for companies including Citibank, Standard Chartered and GlaxoSmithKline.
She can be seen talking about her role at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in this video interview with PRWeek US editor Steve Barrett in April this year.